Food, Beverage & Consumer Goods: Climate & GHG disclosures

Some regulators and stakeholders are focused on corporate responsibility and sustainability matters, including, but not limited to, greenhouse gas emissions and other climate-related risks, sustainable packaging, water stewardship, and corporate governance and oversight. While we are actively addressing these issues, these initiatives represent our current plans and aspirations that may be refined in the future and are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them, especially given the difficulties and expenses of implementation as well as the ever-changing regulatory and technological landscape. For example, disclosures about our sustainability-related initiatives and goals, and progress against those goals, may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. In addition, previously reported data has, and may continue to be, adjusted to reflect improvements in the availability and quality of internal and third-party data, changes in the nature and scope of our operations, and other changes in circumstances. If our climate-related information, processes and disclosures are incomplete or inaccurate, our reputation, business, and growth could be negatively impacted.

Furthermore, the rules, regulations, and standards set forth by various governmental and self-regulatory organizations, such as the SEC, the European Union, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), continue to evolve in scope and complexity and, at times, are inconsistent with one another, which, in turn, makes compliance more uncertain and difficult. For example, the standards used to identify and collect the data required pursuant to the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive are still in development, which could result in increased costs related to complying with the changing reporting obligations and could increase our risk of failing to comply with the directive. These changing rules and regulations, along with constantly evolving stockholder expectations, have resulted in, and may continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and increased management time and attention spent complying with or meeting such expectations and rules.

We have announced, and may from time to time announce, certain initiatives, including goals, targets and other objectives, related to sustainability matters. Our efforts to research, establish, accomplish, and accurately report on these goals, targets and other objectives do not guarantee we will ultimately achieve or maintain them and expose us to numerous operational, reputational, financial, legal and other risks. Our ability to achieve any stated goal, target or objective is subject to numerous factors and conditions, many of which are outside of our control. Examples of such factors include evolving regulatory requirements affecting sustainability standards or disclosures or imposing different requirements, the reliance on other value chain actors to implement the required changes, the pace of changes in technology and the availability of suppliers that can meet our sustainability and other standards. In addition, statements about our sustainability goals, targets and other objectives, and progress against those goals, targets and other objectives, may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. Our selection, interpretation and application of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards may change from time to time or differ from those of others. Reporting methods for this data may be updated and previously reported data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations, and other changes in circumstances, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future. Further, developing and collecting, measuring and reporting sustainability-related information and metrics can be costly, difficult and time consuming and is subject to evolving reporting standards, including recent legislation in California related to reporting greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk, the SEC’s climate-related reporting requirements (which are currently suspended, pending the outcome of ongoing legal challenges), and similar proposals by other international regulatory bodies such as in the European Union, especially to the extent these standards are not harmonized or consistent.